Out of These Waters
by Mrs. Crocodile
Summary: When a young mermaid falls in love with a human, Rumpelstiltskin sees an opportunity.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Obviously, this is a OUAT version of The Little Mermaid. I always wanted to write one, but I needed to figure out what Regina or Rumpelstiltskin would want from a mermaid. After Into the Deep, I now know.

**General Disclaimer:** This story is based entirely on situations and characters owned by other people. I am not making any money off it. Please don't sue me.

**Disclaimer on originality:** As of the writing of this story, I've never read OUAT fics, so if there are other Ariels on this site, I don't know anything about them.

–

**Out of These Waters  
**

Summary: When a young mermaid falls in love with a human, Rumpelstiltskin sees an opportunity.

(Kinda) Spoilers Through: 2x08—Into the Deep

–

_What would I give if I could live out of these waters? What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand?_

_–  
_

**Chapter One **

Mermaids were a stubborn bunch. As the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin was used to getting what he wanted, but, as he was frustratingly discovering, his new powers did not translate into the realm of the sea.

Merfolk did not believe in getting involved in the affairs of the landed men. There had once been friendly coexistence between the two races, but long ago, humans, specifically the viking clans of the island Mertonia, had overstepped. Now the boats of men were allowed passage over the surface of the sea, but that was all.

However, Rumpelstiltskin was not really human anymore, and he certainly was not Mertonian. And if he could just get one mermaid to listen to him, he could explain that to them. There were ways he could coerce them to cooperate, threats he could make, damage he could do to their realm. But what he really needed was a more amiable relation with the Merfolk. He wanted their special ink, not just once, but in an unlimited supply. And that would require a little more finesse.

So he waited and observed. A proud, noble race like the Merfolk was bound to have a weak link somewhere. He would find it, and he would exploit it. This was just going to take a little more time than he originally thought.

–

The Evil Queen was tired of diplomacy. She swirled into the King of Mertonia's chambers in a puff of black smoke. "I want the necklace."

King Hans did not seem alarmed by her sudden presence, which was annoying. He moved nonchalantly to the couch and took a seat. "I've already told you, Regina. I am not going to part with spoils of war without getting something in return."

He had told her that. In fact, he had been telling her that for months. And she was a reasonable person, so she asked again, "Then what do you want?"

He stared back at her with cool blue eyes and gave her the same nonresponse. "I'm thinking."

Her rage threatened to explode. "It is of no value to you! It's just a worthless trinket that your ancestors stole from my ancestors a hundred years ago."

King Hans stood. "That's where you're wrong. It does have value to me. Your desire for it gives it value. Now I just have to figure out what it's worth."

Regina would have gladly met his price the first or second time she came to him, maybe even the third, but he had to push her. She held one hand up and sent him slamming into the wall. "How about your life? Is it worth that?"

The King called for his guards, but Regina shut them out with a flick of her wrist. She walked up to Hans and slowly drew his sword out of its scabbard. In that moment, he finally looked at her with the fear and respect she deserved. "Where is it?"

He shook his head stubbornly, and Regina sighed. She could spend years tearing this castle apart and still never find what she was looking for. She held the sword against his neck. "I will return again in one month." Her previous visits had been at one month intervals, and she generously gave him that long again. "And then you can tell which you value more, your life or my necklace."

She dropped his sword on the ground in front of him. In one last display of her power, she sent the King careening toward the opposite wall. She was gone in another puff of smoke before he landed.

–

Ariel had a favorite spot on the surface. From a safe distance, she could see the land mass of Mertonia where the humans lived out their mysterious lives with their lights and their buildings. She'd heard that somewhere in the other direction there was an even larger land with more of everything, but from her little spot in the sea, that seemed impossible.

The tide was coming in, and Ariel allowed herself to be carried a little closer to the island. Her whole life she heard about how dangerous humans were. She should have been afraid as the island loomed ever bigger, but really, all she felt was exhilaration. There was a part of her that wanted to go all the way and wash ashore, but she knew that was not an option. As a reminder of the reason, she bobbed her head above the water until her gills burned. Still, she floated with the current.

Finally, Ariel was pulled out of her reverie at the sound of her sister's voice. "Do you have a death wish?"

She turned around to see Andrina. It was better than it could have been. Of all her sisters—she had _six_, all older—Andrina was the least likely to tell their father about this. No longer a child, Ariel was free to traverse the sea as she pleased, but she knew her father, the King, would not approve. "I was just about to turn back," she answered, not sure whether that was true.

Andrina looked at the island. "I guess it's kind of pretty. But you know that you can never go there."

"Because I wouldn't be able to breathe," Ariel said by way of agreement. "And I bet it's really hard to swim on sand."

Her sister nodded. "And the part where the humans will trap you and imprison you in something called an aquarium. And then if you're very lucky, when they get sick of you, after years of forcing you to entertain them, they'll give you back to the sea. But if you're not lucky—"

"They'll just stop feeding me until I die in the aquarium," Ariel finished in a bored tone. "Those are just made up horror stories. You don't know anyone that's ever happened to."

"That's true, it doesn't happen anymore. Because we don't ever go this close to the surface." When Ariel did not say anything, Andrina sighed. "Are you really so unhappy in the sea?"

"No." Again Ariel was not sure how true that was. "There's just so much more to the world. Haven't you ever wanted to know more?"

Andrina shook her head with a sad smile. This response did not surprise Ariel; every mermaid she knew felt the same way. Their little world deep underwater was enough for them. Ariel was the oddball for not being content with the sea. As they swam away, Ariel gave the island one last look over her shoulder.

–

It took a half hour for the palace guards to break down the door., but when they finally did, Prince Eric was the first into the room. He found his father on the floor with his head resting in a small pool of blood. He went down to his knees at his father's side and looked up at the useless guards. "Did you see who it was?"

They shook their heads. After a few seconds, the braver one spoke. "We heard him call for us, but the door was closed and locked before we could get to it."

Queen Astrid blanched when she walked into the room. Once her composure returned, she snapped at the guards. "Well, don't just stand there. Get the doctor."

They scurried out, and she knelt opposite her son, taking her husband's hand in hers. "Do we know what happened?"

"There was an attack. Probably one of our enemies."

Queen Astrid raised her eyes to meet Eric's. "We don't have any enemies, not anymore."

He supposed she believed that. "Mother, the mainland is full of nothing but enemies. We built this country on five hundred years of pillaging theirs."

"The last Mertonian raiding party sailed over sixty years ago. We are at peace with the countries of the mainland. There are treaties." She spoke in a calm tone, but her grip tightened considerably, cutting off the circulation to King Hans's fingers.

Everyone knew this peace was an uneasy one. Despite her words, Eric could see from her iron grip that his mother was being more realistic about the possibilities here than he originally thought. "No doubt it was a rogue agent," he said, making a concession to her belief in peace and treaties. He gently pried her fingers away from the King's. "Allow me to sail to the mainland and speak with King George. I am certain I will be able to find the answer we need and bring resolution to this matter."

Queen Astrid nodded absently while stroking her husband's bearded face. "You may set sail in the morning. Take a group of your best soldiers with you." There was a fierceness in her eyes when she looked to Eric again. "Because while I have absolute faith in diplomacy, you never know when you'll need to be protected from a rogue agent." She held his eyes so that her meaning was clear.

They were interrupted by the arrival of the doctor. Eric and Astrid cleared from the body so that he could perform his examination. The news was not good. King Hans was alive for now, but there was no telling when or if he would ever awake.

Despite the history of his people, Prince Eric had never thirsted for war, but he could not let this act of aggression go unanswered.

–

–

**Author's Note:** My plan is to write this during the hiatus, but I wanted to get the foundation established just in case mermaid-y things happen in the fall finale on Sunday. (Although "Queen of Hearts" doesn't really sound like it's going to be about that.) Also I'm pretty sure gills work differently than lungs and that a fish out of water experiences a different sensation than a person drowning, but those are nuances that are not important here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

In the morning, it was clear that a storm was brewing off the coast, but Prince Eric and company set sail as planned. With the King's attacker still unknown, time was of the essence, and Mertonians prided themselves on being strong sailors who did not shy away from inclement weather. By the first night of what was supposed to be a six day journey, the storm had intensified to a point where even Eric was concerned about the safety of the ship and its crew, and things looked even worse ahead.

In the early hours of the morning, Eric made the call that they would have to sail around the storm, adding days to their trip. This decision came too late, however. About twenty minutes later, a bolt of lightning hit the main mast, causing the ship to rock precariously, and in the ensuing panic, no one noticed when their prince went overboard. His last thought before losing consciousness in the icy cold water was that it, as a Mertonian, was both appropriate and humiliating for him to die lost at sea.

–

Ariel always felt there was something beautiful about a storm at night. She loved the angry clouds, the surging waves, and especially the way the darkness swirled all around her until a crack of lightning illuminated the sky and the sea. This night there was a strong one going, so in the hour before sunrise, she went up to the surface to experience the storm.

When she saw the ship pass over her head, she knew she should turn back, sink deeper into the sea and hide from the evil humans. If she could see them, they could see her. That was the general rule of thumb. But then there was another flash of light, and she could see them well enough to tell that the humans were quite preoccupied. The lightning lingered on the ship, glowing brightly like the sun. It seemed much bigger and closer than the sun, but it was not giving off nearly as much light. It barely lit up more than the ship itself. Ariel was mesmerized by this odd phenomenon, so much so that she stayed in too close a proximity to the ship.

She saw a human fall over the side. This drew her attention away from the strange light source. She watched as the human sank like a rock. She had never been anywhere near this close to one, so all her information was strictly second, if not third, hand. Still, she thought humans could at least kind of swim. She followed it down, not sure what she was planning to do. As she got closer, she saw that the human had the shadow of a beard beginning on the lower half of its face, which if humans were like Merfolk, meant it was a male. A very attractive male from what she could tell. She never knew if that determination had anything to do with her choice to catch his arm and pulled him to the surface.

She was supposed to let humans die. It might not have ever been put quite that harshly, but that was the gist of the Merfolk's non-interference policy. If a human fell off one of those boats, a mermaid is supposed to do nothing. This went through her head several times as they rose. But she couldn't do nothing, not when it was so easy to just do something. It took almost no effort for her to pull him through the water, but it meant that now a sentient being might not die. How was that not the right thing to do?

When they got to the surface, the storm had blown to the west, taking this human's ship with it. The sun was starting to break through the clouds in the east, giving Ariel enough light to see by. She had not thought this part out. Should she take him back to the ship and risk being seen, captured, and put on display like some kind of trophy? That looked like exactly the kind of ship that would have nets, too. She meant it when she told Andrina she did not believe in those stories, but now that she was faced with the possibility, she was not sure she wanted to take the chance.

When the human's head poked above the water, nothing happened. There was a rock formation jutting out of the water, much closer than the ship, and Ariel took him over to it. She laid him against the rock as best she could. The water in the air made it easier for her her to stay above the surface, but eventually, she needed to go under again. She waited until she was able to breathe easily, and then she poked the upper part of her head above the water, keeping her gills well saturated.

He was still unconscious. Ariel did not know how humans got air into themselves. As a mermaid, all she had to do was be in water and it just happened. She pushed herself up on the rock and tried prying his mouth open to let the air in, but there was still no response. There was only one other thing she could think to do. She sucked in as much air as she could stand and then pushed it into his mouth using her own. Then she had to get her gills back in the water.

From her position with just her eyes above the water, she watched him give one small cough. A second later he began coughing harder and rolled onto his side, facing away from her. Which was good, because it meant that he did not see her. Ariel lingered for a second before she let herself sink down so that he definitely would not see her. She did not know why, but it made her sad to think that he would probably never know what she had done for him.

–

Of course, the crew eventually noticed Eric was missing. Once the fire was out, it was clear that the mast was not salvageable, and they looked to their prince for new instructions. Only to not find him, anywhere. Prince Eric's squire in particular was quite inconsolable; part of his job was keeping the prince safe, and he failed. And this was right on the heels of an attack on the King.

The squire need not have worried though. The ship turned back, away from the storm and toward Mertonia, which was the only place they could go with the ship in this condition. Within a couple minutes, one of the crew spotted a figure lying on a rock formation. The ship veered in that direction, and Prince Eric was saved. When asked about the ordeal, he was unable to remember anything between falling from the ship and waking up on the rock.

–

Rumpelstiltskin saw everything. He watched as a young mermaid with bright red hair risked her life to save that of a human. This was not a mermaid who wanted to stay out of the affairs of men. In fact, if Rumpelstiltskin was lucky, this might even be a mermaid in love. And love could be a very powerful motivator.

–

Hanson Warrington was a fisherman by trade. Or at least he had been for the last 28 years. But then walking down the street on a typical weekday afternoon, it suddenly struck him that he used to be something and someone quite different. For a second, he considered whether that was what it was like to have a complete psychotic break. It didn't feel like madness though; it felt more like finally being sane. Not that he expected a mad person to be able to tell the difference.

It helped that he had a theory about what was happening. As Eric, Hanson had not been at James and Snow White's wedding, but the story of her stepmother's threat had made the rounds. This was the world of no happy endings. This was how Regina punished everyone for whatever one woman had done to her, a woman Eric did not even know that well. He looked around the street and saw that he was not the only one having these revelations. A little further down the sidewalk, Sean Herman embraced his fiancée Ashley as though he had not seen her in a very long time. It was rife with meaning. Similar reunions were happening all over.

Hanson scanned the crowds, looking for one distinctive head of hair. His best friend and business partner, also formerly his trusted squire, ran up to him and sank to one knee. "Your Majesty, I humbly beg your forgiveness."

Now he knew for sure that it was not just him. "For what?" He looked down and sighed. "Max, stand up."

Max did as he was told. "For any and all liberties I've taken, Sire." After a beat, he added. "But especially for how often I made fun of you for still living with your mother."

Maybe it was the nearly three decades of living as a commoner, and more than that, living in a society that did not even have royalty, but Hanson found that he was now a little uncomfortable with the titles that had always been his birthright. "Just call me Hanson. Or Eric. But there is no need for formalities. Here, I'm still the same guy you co-own a boat with." He turned his attention back to the other people on the street.

Max knew exactly who he was looking for. "You know, I—I can't remember ever seeing her here."

That was what Hanson was afraid of. With her flaming red hair, so bright it almost couldn't exist in nature, Ariel was hard to miss. Even when he did not remember their history, she would have caught his eye at least once in the last 28 years. He was not quite ready to give up all hope after a couple minutes, but he was preparing himself for the possiblity that Ariel had not made the journey to this world.

A second later, Hanson saw a thick purple cloud rolling in their direction. "Well, that can't be good," he said out loud.

–

**Author's Note:** The U.S.S. Warrington was a Naval Destroyer that sunk in a hurricane during WWII. (I didn't just know that off the top of my head; I went looking for one.) There's not going to be a Hanson scene in every chapter, but I wanted to include some of the Storybrooke side for completeness. (And because I figured people would wonder.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Holidays, new job, blah, blah, blah. Turns out I was totally wrong about my ability to do this during the hiatus. (Obviously, as the show has been back for weeks.) Next chapter will be much, much quicker. Promise.

–

–

**Chapter 3**

Ariel kept her encounter with the human a secret from her family. From everyone. If any of the merfolk knew what she had done, they would have stopped her from returning to the surface. Her father would probably lock her up, seeing it as the only way to prevent her from taking any more of what he would consider unnecessary risks. And yet, after rescuing that man, the thought of never again seeing the human world seemed more horrible than ever. She'd had a taste of their world, and it only made her want to know more.

When she got to the surface the next morning, the storm had passed away from that part of the sea and there was no sign of the ship from before. However, there was a small boat rowing her way. Ariel felt somewhat emboldened by her successful dealing with a human, albeit an unconscious one, and she did not sink down to hide from this new one. There was only the one anyway, and she was fairly sure she could hold her own.

She had not intended to let the human get close enough to make any real contact, but when the small boat got closer, Ariel saw that the human on board was encrusted in some kind of glittery substance. She was not sure how common this was for humans, but she had never seen anything like it. Mesmerized by the way the light reflected off skin and water, she stayed at the surface until the boat was right above her.

The human popped his head over the side. "Hello, dearie."

Ariel did not know what to do. The fact that this human was conscious made this a far more dangerous situation than the one the day before. She could easily swim away, and she knew that was what she should do. In fact, she was not sure why she had not already started sinking down. Maybe it was because she was still intrigued by that sparkling skin. He just did not look that scary. She steeled up her courage and said her first ever word to a human. "Hello."

He smiled at her, and the plane of water between them distorted his features in a way that made him look a bit unnerving. "Pretty, little mermaid, I need favor. And in return, I can do you a favor as well."

Ariel was starting to get a little worried. It sounded like he had come to this part of the sea with the express purpose of finding a mermaid, which was not something she had considered a possibility when she decided to engage in this conversation. Thoughts of being captured and put on display invaded her mind, but she had already come this far. "What kind of favor do you need?"

"All I need is ink from an ursula squid." He produced a glass jar not much larger than his hand. "Just enough to fill this."

That was not nearly as bad as she had been thinking, but it was still a difficult request to perform. The ink of the ursula squid held great power. This was unrelated to the source of the merfolk's power, but as a member of the royal family, it was her duty to protect all the magics of the sea. It was probably all moot anyway. She could not imaging there was anything a human could offer her that would be worth having. "And what do you propose to give me in return?" she asked, trying to sound disinterested.

"I," he began with great flourish, "will make you human."

Ariel gasped. That was the last thing she expected him to say. "Can you do that?"

He gave a weird little giggle. "Oh, yes. Easily in fact. It would only be temporary, of course, unless you wanted it to be more. But first, I need the ink."

His offer to make her human had driven everything else from her mind. It was time to come back to reality. "I haven't agreed yet."

"But you will," he said with confidence.

That was when she realized this strange man had not rowed his boat out into the deeper waters of the sea looking for just any mermaid; he was looking for her specifically. Experiencing life as a human was the dream of exactly one mermaid. Somehow, he already knew about her. She did not deny his assertion. "You said temporary, but exactly how temporary would it be?"

"Ink first," he insisted with a wag of his finger.

Ariel held her ground. There was a part of her that believed he was right and she probably would accept in the end, but first she needed to have a better idea of what she was agreeing to. "No, terms first."

The smile on his face dimmed and he narrowed his eyes a little. It wasn't scary to Ariel. It was more like they were finally engaging in real negotiations. "I can give you a month. Then it's up to you."

A month sounded perfectly fine to her. It would allow her to have this experience with minimal commitment. Still, this was the second time he had brought up the possibility of more time. "Up to me to do what?"

"If you wanted to make it a more permanent arrangement, all it would take is true love's kiss. Provided your true love is a human."

There was some shrewdness in his eyes, like he expected this true love business to have meaning to her. Suddenly she had a good idea what it was that brought her to this man's attention. Maybe rescuing that first human had been a mistake after all. Then again, maybe it would be the act that led to her getting exactly what she always wanted. She opened her mouth to set the record straight, although whether it was about her feelings for that young man or about her desire to make her humanity permanent, she was not sure.

The shimmery man did not let her speak anyway. "I will say no more without the ink."

Ariel considered this for a moment. Until now, this had been a hypothetical discussion, and now it was time to make a decision. She had never really thought about whether she wanted to _be_ human because it had never been a possibility before. And now that it was, it was too tempting. She tried to be reasonable, but deep down, she already knew what her decision was. It was foolish and reckless and insane, but she was going to become human for a month. Assuming, that was, this man could actually do what he said.

Hesitantly, Ariel reached her arm out of the water to take the jar from him, but he snatched it out of her reach. "No, you must bring the squid to me. If you take the jar, it will fill with water and that dilutes it. I need this ink to be full strength."

Part of her knew she should ask what he wanted the ink for, but she didn't. Because she suspected the answer would be nothing good, and she did not want to know any more than what she already did. She just needed to be sure of one thing. "I will make this deal with you only if you promise not to use the ink to hurt any of the creatures of the sea."

He made a dramatic show of placing his hand over his heart and bowing to her. "You have my word."

Ariel realized that she had said it. She came right out and said the words, "I will make this deal with you." She supposed there was still time to back out, but she just dove down to find this man an ursula squid.

In that part of the sea, Ursula squid tended to conjugate around a particular reef formation, so it was not difficult for Ariel to find one. The tricky part was coaxing the squid back to the surface without it expelling its ink into the water. She supposed this was why the man needed her. Even if he could locate and capture a squid on his own, he would immediately spook it and get diluted ink.

In order to keep it calm, Ariel sang to the squid as she guided it back to the boat. When the man saw that she had delivered, his face broke out in an almost childlike glee. He handed her the jar. Holding the jar in one hand, she took the ursula squid in her other hand and pushed it up out of the water. The squid finally became frightened and released its ink. She pressed the edge of the container into her skin so as to catch the ink as it ran down her arm. Then she gave the nearly full jar back to the man.

When she handed him the jar, he disappeared into the boat. Unsure what to do now, Ariel dropped her arms back into the sea and let the squid swim away. Her one arm was stained with ink from wrist to elbow, and she rubbed at it to try to fix that. The strange man popped his head over the side again. "Don't do that. We'll need that ink."

Ariel pulled her hand away from her arm. "So, now? It's-it's happening now?"

He shook his head. "You must swim closer to shore, dearie," he said. "If you turn human here, you'll drown."

That was not what she meant. She meant "now" as in no time to tell anyone where she was going, no time to say goodbye. Maybe that was the way it should be. She wouldn't be able to tell anyone anyway. It was better to just disappear and make her excuses in a month.

Now that he mentioned drowning though . . . Ariel was familiar with the concept; that was what was happening to the other human man before she rescued him. It just had never been something that could apply to her. She understood broadly what it would mean to become human, breathing air, standing on some kind of divided fins that did not look like fins. But she had not yet considered what it would mean not to be a mermaid anymore. She had lived her whole life in the sea with no need to ever fear the water. The idea that it would become dangerous to her, that she could suddenly lose the ability to swim or at least to swim as well as she could now gave her a moment of pause. But she was so close. If she passed up this opportunity, she would always wonder what might have been. She would rather have regrets about something she did than something she missed out on.

As she swam toward the beach, Ariel could not help but wonder if this was a trick. If he did want to capture her, she was probably playing right into his hands. First she gave him the powerful squid ink, despite the fact that she had no idea what a human might be able to do with it, and now she was following him closer to the land, the one place she was never allowed to go.

Ariel could actually swim faster than the man could row, so she was not so much following him as swimming in circles around his boat as it slowly neared the shore. As the buildings and other details of the human world came into focus, the enormity of what she was doing hit Ariel. For the next month, this foreign place would be her world. She worried that it could never live up to the majesty and wonder she had created in her imagination, but maybe that was better. That would make it easier to leave in a month.

Finally, once they were so dangerously close to land, the man stopped rowing. It was time. "Now, if you do not receive _true love's kiss_," He made a sweeping hand motion that ended with him pointing straight up. "and complete the transition, in exactly one month, you'll revert back to a mermaid, gills and all. You'll want to be near water when that happens."

Ariel nodded. Since she did not intend to "complete the transition," that was good information for her to have. Be back here, or at any beach, in one month's time.

"Then it is time." Like everything else, he said this with both whimsical enthusiasm and dramatic flourish.

Ariel barely had time to register what he had said before her arm began growing hot. She looked down and saw that the ink was disappearing into her skin. Then her fins began to pull apart. She braced herself, expecting it to be painful, but it wasn't. She wiggled the two sides of her fins independently, slowly at first and then more urgently. It was already getting difficult for her to stay up near the surface. She felt her gills close up, and suddenly salt water filled her nose and mouth. That part was painful. Very painful. She flailed in the water as panic set in.

The man grabbed one of her flailing arms and pulled her up until her head was above the water. She coughed, hacking up as much seawater as possible. It was all very similar to what she had witnessed the night before, and Ariel now had a real, deep understanding of drowning.

"That's it, dearie. Through the nose."

Ariel tried to do what he said. She worked on taking slow, deep breaths of air. As she did this, the waves carried her to the shore and eventually deposited her on the beach.

She was tangled up in something. At first, she thought it was some kind of seaweed, but as she pulled at it, she realized it was all one piece. She knew about this; humans called it "cloth." In addition to being heavy and itchy, it was uncomfortable just in the way it stuck to her. She did not know how humans could bear it. She looked down past the annoying brown cloth and finally noticed her lower half. She had legs!

She stretched both of them out in front of her. At the end of each of them, there were little finger-like appendages. She tried to wiggle them, but they did not move quite as well as the ones on her hands. She looked up at the man, who had run his boat aground and was walking up to her. She started to thank him, but when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out.

She tried again and again, beating at her chest to show that something was wrong. "Ah, yes," the man said. "That is an unfortunate downside. Mermaid voices can only travel through water."

Ariel futilely mouthed, "I'm not a mermaid." She point to her new legs.

He shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. Well, thank you for this—" He held up the jar of ink. "And I'll be on my way now."

Suddenly he was gone. Ariel looked around. It wasn't just the man; the boat was gone too, as if he had never been there. She was alone on the beach without the ability to talk, with no idea how to be human. She wondered how many other downsides he had forgotten to mention. No matter. She had a month and she would learn to make do.

First, standing. She did not really know where to start. She bent one knee and then the other, but that did not help much. Frustrated, she rolled onto her stomach and used her arms to push herself up. She came up to sit back on her knees and wiped the sand off her hands and onto the cloth covering her torso. She had gotten some in her mouth too, and she spit it out. Getting up to this position had been fairly easy. She shifted her weight forward onto her hands again and pulled one foot up and onto the ground. With great effort she managed to get herself onto both feet.

She stayed hunched over for a while, her hands inches from the sand, ready to catch her if she fell. Slowly, she straightened up. For a few seconds, she was doing it, actually standing up on her own two legs. Then she promptly fell over backwards. She did not really understand how humans could balance on these tiny things at the bottom of their legs. They seemed very inefficient for the task.

So she sat there, because it was just easier. After a few minutes, she saw two large creatures coming toward her. The closer they got, the larger and more imposing and more terrifying they looked. She rolled over and tried standing again, which did go better. As soon as she tried to take a step, however, she ended up face down in the sand. She pushed up. Maybe it would be better to just go on hands and knees. She wished she had thought of that earlier because the creatures were upon her now.

She looked up and noticed that there were humans, two men, riding the creatures. So they couldn't be that scary, right? When she looked even closer, she realized that she recognized one of the men. He was the one from the storm, the one she rescued. Dry and awake, his face was even more stunning than before, but that was hardly the point right then.

The point, as he dismounted his creature, was that he looked willing to help. And Ariel really needed help.

–

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**Author's Note:** If you have a problem with anything in this chapter, specifically anything related to how sound travels through water, I would say to you: Just go with it; mermaids are magic anyway. (And going forward, that's my response to anything that does not work in the real world.)


End file.
